Vehicle recycling expert Remove My Car is standing up for the ELV (End of Life Vehicle) industry at a time when the reputation of vehicle recyclers has been put under national scrutiny by the International Roundtable on Auto Recycling in Japan.

The company believes the vehicle recycling industry in the UK is cleaning up its act, helped along by recent legislation, and that it no longer deserves to be branded negatively as an industry.

“The stereotypical view of vehicle recyclers and Authorised Treatment Facility (ATF) sites is often very negative but this is not a true reflection of the industry today. While you will always have some exceptions, most scrap metal operators choose to operate on the right side of the law. With recent recycling targets being increased and news that the UK has successfully met existing recycling targets once again, there is little doubt to me that the industry is improving,” said Steve Queen, Managing Director of Remove My Car.

The company’s defence of the industry comes at a time when the European Commission is taking Poland to court over failings in end-of-life vehicles legislation. The Commission has admitted to having concerns about Poland’s implementation of the collection and recycling system required. However, Remove My Car argues that Poland is not representative of the wider ELV recycling industry, which is raising its standards; a view supported by Steve Fletcher ARC, who is Managing Director of the successful Automotive Recyclers of Canada Association.

He said: “Our industry suffers from a poor, often ancient perception, by the public that we have taken great strides to change. Our Members, while not always perfect, have taken a public stand to improve their performance, oversight and connection to their community. The issues are global, as witnessed by much discussion at the IRT, but there are a lot of positive changes happening in this industry worldwide, at the moment.”

Remove My Car points to the recent Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013 as evidence that industry standards are improving in the UK.

The Act was introduced to tighten controls on the vehicle recycling industry and declares that all scrap metal operators now require a licence in order to trade. It also made it illegal to pay for end of life vehicles with cash, introducing an audit trail for all ELVs sold in order for them to be traced back to the original vehicle owner if necessary. With recent news that the UK successfully met its 85% 2012 ELV recycling target, Steve Queen is confident that a large number of ATF sites will also be able to meet the revised 95% targets from 2015.

“It’s great that there is so much attention on the vehicle recycling industry at the moment, particularly at a time when the entire industry is outperforming targets. We are currently working with our own ATF network to make sure they are prepared for new recycling targets and have put processes in place to ensure that these are met. It’s important that people are made aware of the huge leaps forward that the industry has taken over the last few years in order to significantly raise its standards and shake off the stereotypical negative view that we have often been tarnished with. We should be proud of the way our ELV industry is developing in the UK.”

Remove My Car is also proactively developing its own services in order to help further improve standards in the vehicle recycling industry. Its online auction system which is free to use for all parties at www.removemycar.co.uk, already helps both ATFs and consumers to streamline the ELV buying and selling processes, while a recent move to help ATF sites meet new recycling targets is also set to help. This, together with the Scrap Metal Dealers Acts 2013, which Remove My Car has developed a system to cater for, are helping drive up standards in the industry and present it as a more professional occupation.

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